diff --git a/alica_engine/src/engine/RunnableObject.cpp b/alica_engine/src/engine/RunnableObject.cpp
index e7e45df0c..079e3ce95 100644
--- a/alica_engine/src/engine/RunnableObject.cpp
+++ b/alica_engine/src/engine/RunnableObject.cpp
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ void RunnableObject::stop()
 
     stopRunCalls();
     doTerminate();
-    cleanupBlackboard();
     _runnableObjectTracer.cleanupTraceContext();
+    cleanupBlackboard();
 
     _started = false;
 }
@@ -70,9 +70,10 @@ void RunnableObject::start(RunningPlan* rp)
 
     _runningplanContext = rp;
 
+    setupBlackboard();
+    // setup the trace context after setting up the blackboard so that the blackboard can be used for setting up custom tracing
     // TODO cleanup: pass trace factory in constructor. can't do now as _engine isn't available
     _runnableObjectTracer.setupTraceContext(_name, _runningplanContext, _engine->getTraceFactory());
-    setupBlackboard();
     doInit();
     scheduleRunCalls();
 }
diff --git a/supplementary/alica_ros_proxy/test/alica_ros_timer_tests.cpp b/supplementary/alica_ros_proxy/test/alica_ros_timer_tests.cpp
index cb9999f7a..ffb516f07 100644
--- a/supplementary/alica_ros_proxy/test/alica_ros_timer_tests.cpp
+++ b/supplementary/alica_ros_proxy/test/alica_ros_timer_tests.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ TEST(SyncStopTimerRosTest, CbFrequencyCheck)
         double period = i / 1000.0, totDuration = 1.1, sleepBuffer = 0.1 * totDuration;
         int expCbCnt = totDuration / period;
         expCbCnt = expCbCnt - 0.2 * expCbCnt;
-        double periodUpperLimit = 0.3 * period + period, periodLowerLimit = period - 0.1 * period;
+        double periodUpperLimit = 0.3 * period + period, periodLowerLimit = period - 0.2 * period;
 
         ros::Time lastCbTime;
         bool freqLess = false, freqMore = false;